Banijay Asia & Ravi Shastri’s Sporting Beyond partner for cricket content

LR: Deepak Dhar & Ravi Shastri (Source: Banijay)

Banijay Asia has linked up with Sporting Beyond, the prodco co-founded by India’s former cricket coach Ravi Shastri, to produce content and live events together.

The Deepak Dhar-led joint venture will work with Sporting Beyond, which was founded by Shastri and talent manager Jaiveer Panwar), to create “innovative ways of merging cricket and entertainment” across platforms.

The move comes six months since Banijay Asia was restructured, with Dhar’s company taking full control of Endemol Shine India in July.

He described the tie-up as “a pivotal step in reinforcing our newly established sports and live events vertical”, following the October launch of Banijay Sports.

“Our ambition to dominate the sports content entertainment space has never been clearer. By merging Ravi’s extensive cricket expertise with our innovative content creation capabilities, we aim to deliver unparalleled cricket entertainment experiences.”

Shastri, who also played for the Indian national team, said that the deal would allow his company “to blend cricket with entertainment in unique and exciting ways. We are excited to bring our experience to the table and together, aim to captivate the audiences like never before.”

Banijay Asia’s slate includes scripted adaptations of shows including The Night Manager, Call My Agent Bollywood and Hostages, as well as originals such as Dahan, Matsya Kaand and Undekhi.

It also has local remakes of shows such as The Good Wife, House and Suits on the slate, while on the unscripted front, programming includes Ranveer Vs Wild With Bear Grylls, The Kapil Sharma Show, MTV Roadies and The Voice.